EL DORADO, Ark. – Taking on 36 holes of a relentless Mystic Creek course,
Paul Gonzalez rolled in a par putt just before darkness descended in south-central Arkansas to wrap up a strong opening day for the UT Arlington men's golf team at the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship on Sunday.
UTA sits alone in 3rd place following consecutive rounds of 297 for a +18 (594) total through the 1st and 2nd rounds. That puts the Mavericks six shots clear of 4th-place Georgia State (+24, 600) – the all-important line of demarcation as the top-4 teams following three rounds of stroke play advance to match play to determine the league's champion.
With inclement weather expected in the area on Monday, tournament officials made the decision on Saturday to try and get the 1st and 2nd rounds in on Sunday, adding to the already difficult challenge of playing the undulating par-72, 7,318-yard Mystic Creek layout.
The third, and final, round of stroke place is scheduled as normal for Tuesday, giving the 60-player field a mental and physical un-planned 'off day' on Monday. If the Mavs can remain in the top 4 after Tuesday's round, they will advance to a semifinal match on Wednesday morning; the final match will be contested Wednesday afternoon with the winner clinching the Sun Belt's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Gonzalez led UTA on Sunday as he bounced back from an opening-round 74 with an even-par 72 in the 2nd round. The Waxahachie, Texas, native resides in a six-way tie for 4th place at +2 – only three shots back of 36-hole leader Anton Albers (-1) from Little Rock. Albers is the lone player in the field in red figures through two rounds.
Little Rock leads the 12-team field at +6 (582), with Georgia Southern (+8, 584) close on its heels. Georgia State has a narrow one-shot lead over 5th-place ULM (+25, 601) and a two-shot cushion on 6th-place App State (+26, 602).
UTA SCORES
Team
3) UT Arlington: 297-297: 594 (+18)
Lineup
T-4) Paul Gonzalez: 74-72: 146 (+2)
T-10) Daniel Cronje: 75-73: 148 (+4)
T-27) Caleb Hicks: 75-77: 152 (+8)
T-31) Daniel Steinarsson: 73-80: 153 (+9)
T-43) Kyle Cox: 81-75: 156 (+12)
INSIDE THE SCORES
- Gonzalez
First Round: Got off to an inauspicious start with two-straight double bogeys on the first two holes. However, he impressively chipped away and got his card back to +1 with three holes to play after a quartet of birdies and just one bogey. Unfortunately, he made back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes before a long eagle putt on 18 lipped out, leading to a tap-in birdie and a round of 74.
Second Round: A steady performance featured nothing worse than a square on his card. Over the first 11 holes he rolled in three birdies and posted three bogeys to sit at even par. From there, he parred his way in with seven-straight pars to sign for the round of 72.
- Cronje
First Round: Jumped out to a fast start with birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes, but gave both of those back and another stroke with a double and a bogey on the next two holes. Closed out his front 9 with a birdie on the par-4 9th to post an even-par 36. After making a 6 on the par-4 10th, he holed out and made an eagle 2 on the par-4 11th to get back to level. However, three-straight birdies on holes 13-15 moved him to +3 for the first 18.
Second Round: A standout first 11 holes included three birdies and eight pars as he sat at -3. But, he ran into a little trouble after that and played the next four holes in +4 to move his card to +1 for the day. A birdie on the 16th – the lone one of the 2nd round for the Mavs – got him back to even, but a bogey on 18 wrapped up the round of 73.
- Hicks
First Round: Went out in 1-under 35 thanks to a pair of birdies on the par-5 5th and par-4 6th and a bogey on the par-4 8th. Opened his back 9 with consecutive bogeys before putting his tee shot about 10 feet from the pin on the par-3 12th and dropping a birdie putt. Sitting at even par with four holes to play, he played those in +3 to post the 75.
Second Round: A disappointing start had him at 7-over after just seven holes, but after that he settled down and played brilliantly. Over the final 11 holes, he carded nine pars and a pair of birdies, including on the closing par-5 18th.
- Steinarsson
First Round: Opened his first-ever Sun Belt Championship with back-to-back birdies on the long par-5 1st and relatively short par-4 2nd. However, consecutive holes of bogey and double on the 5th and 6th moved him over par. He then came in with 10 pars over his final 12 holes, recording a bogey on the 15th before rolling in a birdie on the par-3 16th to post 73 to reside in a tie for 8th.
Second Round: Once again commenced his round with consecutive birdies on the 1st and 2nd, but gave both of them back with bogeys on the next two holes. He remained at even par standing on the 11th tee box before a tough closing stretch in which he played the final eight holes in +8.
- Cox
First Round: Through 13 holes he was UTA's low man and near of the top of the tournament leaderboard at -1, but that was all derailed when he took an 11 on the par-5 14th and played the final four holes in +4 to post an uncharacteristic 81.
Second Round: A much more consistent round did not include anything worse than a bogey. He made four of those through the first 17 holes before finally posting a birdie on the 18th to finish a +3 round.
THIS AND THAT
UTA leads the field with 30 total birdies, two more than Louisiana and four ahead of Arkansas State and App State for the 3rd most … the Mavs rank 2nd in par-4 scoring average (4.22), just behind leader Little Rock (4.21) … Gonzalez and Cronje are both tied for 1st in the field in par-4 scoring average at 4.05 … those two also rank tied for 2nd and tied for 6th, respectively, in the field for most birdies with eight and seven … the average score in the 1st round was 77.23, but it dropped significantly in the 2nd round to a 75.48 … since the Sun Belt implemented match play to determine the conference champion in 2016, UTA has only advanced out of stroke play once – that coming back in 2018 when the Mavs dropped a 3-2 semifinal contest to Georgia Southern.
NEXT UP
UTA will be paired with both Georgia Southern and Little Rock for the final round of stroke play on Tuesday. Tee times will commence off the 1st beginning with Cox at 7:30 a.m. and continuing in nine-minute increments until Gonzalez at 8:06.
Live broadcast coverage will be available on
ESPN+, with live scoring available via
Golfstat.
Gallery: (4-24-2022) 2022 Sun Belt Championship Day One
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ABOUT TEXAS RANGERS GOLF CLUB
Opened in February of 2019, the state-of-the-art Texas Rangers Golf Club is the new home of UTA's men's and women's golf programs. The world's only Major League Baseball-branded golf course, TRGC is the result of a $24 million renovation and updated routing of the former Chester W. Ditto Golf Course.
The Home of UTA Golf was designed by UTA alumni John Colligan and Trey Kemp of Arlington-based Colligan Golf Design. It features an expansive 23-acre practice area, and a new 33,871-square-foot clubhouse features a full-service restaurant and bar, covered patio overlooking the golf course, pro shop, locker rooms and numerous rental and event spaces. For more information about TRGC, click here.
